US raw steel production inches 0.9% higher

NEW YORK  U.S. raw steel output totaled an estimated 1,878,000 net tons last week, up 0.9 percent from 1,862,000 tons the previous week, as mills operated at an average capability utilization rate of 78.4 percent.

In the corresponding week last year, mills produced 1,897,000 tons at an average capability utilization rate of 76.3 percent, according to the American Iron and Steel Institute, Washington.

Mills have produced 60,992,000 tons so far this year at an average capability utilization rate of 77.1 percent, down 4.5 percent from the same period last year, when mills produced 63,845,000 tons at an average capability utilization rate of 77.8 percent.